My sister recommended me the book Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
. She warned me that it was a “girly book” but I like travel books and since one of the countries the author visits is Indonesia, I thought I would give it a read.
Some parts of the Italy section were good. It was supposed to be about food, but food was only the topic in a few paragraphs. Nothing like an Italian version of a “Year in Province”. …

Indonesia’s disastrous aviation continues with 11 people dying in a light plane crash in Papau.
“We confirm that all passengers and crew members are dead. The bodies are still in the plane and we hope to transfer them into body bags today and fly them to Ilaga Monday for identification,” said Timika Air Base commander Easter Haryanto who is coordinating the search.
Indonesia’s aviation record is so bad the EU has banned all Indonesian registered planes from flying over its airspace.

I went to the crocodile farm here in Medan yesterday. I have never been up so close to them, it was a little frightening. They had some in concrete pens and more swimming in a lake. Entrance fee was around 5,000 rupiah. For an extra 50,000 you could feed a duck to them.

Indonesian top-ranked middleweight boxer Andreas Seran has been linked to the death of Sean Headifen in a Bali nightclub.
CCTV footage of the fight shows men beating Sean Headifen and throwing bottles and glasses at him, according to Stuff.
The family is also struggling to raise NZ$8000 to bring the body back to New Zealand.
“Why can’t the Government bring him home and bill us later?” his mum said.
“We just need to get our boy home.”

I have been living in Medan for the past two months and decided that I want to see more of Indonesia. My visa is expiring so I need to make a dash for Penang and hopefully get a Social visa which will allow me to stay here for six months without having to leave the country.
I am looking forward to eating some good Indian food in Penang and stocking up on some English books. Most travelers pass through Medan on their way to Lake Toba or Bukit Lawang …